1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a slide-a-bed system for a vehicle such as a truck or a van or sports utility vehicle, and more particularly pertains to extending the length of a truck bed for use as a work table and further providing a way to load and unload items from the truck.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of a bed assembly for a truck is known in the prior art. More specifically, bed assemblies for trucks heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of loading and unloading materials are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, the prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,500 to Cannon discloses a truck bed extension apparatus. Cannon has an elongated plate, shaped to fit within a pick up truck bed, that extends past the end of a opened tail gate on the truck. The plate served to extend the usable length of the truck bed. The plate is support by two stabilizers bars and telescoping adjustable tubular supports at the front end. The rear end of the plate is supported by an under carriage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,192 to Hall and Risner discloses an underfloor extendible ramp for vehicles. Hall has a tray mountable under the floor of a vehicle, which tray contains an extendible ramp mechanism. The ramp mechanism has a ramp and a driving panel. The ramp is fulcrumed intermediate its ends on the other ends of parallel arms extending from the driving panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,878 to Brockhaus discloses a retractable bed for a truck. Brockhaus in a retractable bed that has two or more telescoping rail packs with a deck attached therebetween for supporting a cargo.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,088 to Chudik discloses a portable bed assembly for motor vehicles. The portable bed assembly has an elongated framework that has a width designed to fit between rear wheel wells on a motor vehicle, and a length which fits snugly with the vehicle when the rear is closed. The portable bed is mounted on rollers which ride on rails mounted on the original deck or bed of the motor vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,857 to Goeser and Eickhoff discloses a vehicle-carrying apparatus. The adjustable load-carrying apparatus is designed for mounting on the load-carrying bed of a vehicle. It has a base frame assembly that is fixed rigidly to the vehicle bed and has laterally spaced inwardly facing rollers in longitudinal alignment along each side edge there of plus an inward lock guide rail. Additionally, Goeser et al. has a slidable platform frame assembly that has lateral trackways slidably mated with the rollers of the base frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,852,303 to Hopson discloses a truck body extension. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,766,959 to Duncan discloses an attaching means for an extension table slide mechanism.
In this respect, the slide-a-bed system for a truck according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of extending the length of a truck bed for use as a work table and further providing a way to load and unload items from the truck.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved slide-a-bed system for a truck which can be used for extending the length of a truck bed for use as a work table and further providing a way to load and unload items from the truck. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.